No Scratching
by Gazlover12-Canada
Summary: Ritsu was in shock. "Chicken pox? But I can't have them, that's a kids illness!" Takano only rolled his eyes. "Adults can get it too you moron." A sick!fic where Ritsu comes down with a rather embarrassing illness. What makes it worse is the fact that Takano is the one taking care of him until he's completely better. Three-Shot!
1. Chapter 1

It had been a stressful day for Ritsu Onodera. First of all, he had accidentally overslept. Much to his embarrassment, Takano had to pound on his door to wake him. His alarm clock was working fine, so he must have just ignored it in his deep sleep. Secondly, he felt like crap. Actually, he had been feeling rather crappy since yesterday. Mostly just tired and a little achy. Thankfully it was a Thursday, so he just had to make it through today and Friday and then he'd have all weekend to catch up on some rest.

It didn't make sense for him to be so tired though. They were in the early stages of the cycle at the office, so most everybody was in good spirits as they worked. Ritsu had felt his mood slowly deteriorate throughout the past few days, and now he felt at his worst.

Still, he tried his best not to lie his head down on his desk and take a nap as he worked, typing away quickly on his laptop. The reason he tried not to look tired was partly because others were noticing his demeanor. Kisa had asked if he was coming down with something a few minutes ago, which Ritsu denied vehemently. The shorter man didn't look like he believed him, but at least left the matter alone.

Ritsu was worried about Takano the most. Right now for instance, Ritsu mused as he absentmindedly scratched his side, his boss was staring at him from his desk. Earlier Takano had cornered his subordinate while they were getting coffee and tried to feel his forehead. Of course that only caused Ritsu to quickly escape and make a mad dash back to his working space.

Once he'd finished the thing he was editing, he closed his laptop and stretched...which was when something caught his eye. There was a red dot on his arm…and another one not far from the first one. Actually, he had several dots on his arm. What on earth was going on? Was it a rash of some sort?

"Excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom," He muttered, quickly rising from his chair and running from the room before anybody else could notice the weird spots on his arm. The young man all but ran to the men's restroom. Thankfully nobody else was inside, and so he walked over to the sinks and mirrors.

Wow, his stomach was awfully itchy. In fact, so were his legs. The brown haired editor slowly pulled up his shirt and gasped upon looking down. His stomach was covered with red spots! He let his shirt drop back down and lifted his pant legs, only to be met with the same situation. Finally he gathered up the courage to look at his face.

Thank god his face wasn't covered...yet. He did have a spot under his ear, and at least three on his neck. If his calculations were correct, then one was also forming on his left cheekbone. Obviously this wasn't good. If they were forming on his face and neck, then people would soon see.

But what on earth was wrong with him? As far as he knew, he wasn't allergic to anything that would make him break out into a rash. Not only was it highly embarrassing, but there was also the fact that these were his co-workers he had to see everyday. They would never let him live it down! Maybe he could visit a doctor later this evening and find out what it was.

For now he needed to hide it. He needed to somehow cover the…

The door suddenly opened quite quickly. Acting upon instinct, Ritsu leaped into the closest stall and slammed the door shut.

"Oi, Onodera, what the hell is taking you so long?"

Oh crap, it was Takano! What was he supposed to do now? The last person he wanted to see right now was his boss. Takano would surely notice the spots on his neck and face up closely, since he was always observing him in that weird manner.

"U-Uh…" Ritsu stammered. "Sorry, I'm busy right now."

"I just saw you run into the stall when I came in idiot. What are you hiding?" The taller man asked.

"Nothing!" Ritsu claimed, voice high pitched and panicky. He was feeling even more awful if possible. He was itchy, his head was pounding, and now he was about to be interrogated. This day was just going fabulous.

"Get out here." Was all Takano demanded.

"I'll be back in a minute! Just leave so I can finish my business...then I'll come back t-to w-work," He stuttered at the end, mostly due to the lump forming in the back of his throat. Oh man, why the hell was he starting to cry?!

"What's wrong?" Footsteps sounded closer to the door. "Come out here Ritsu."

"No!" Ritsu was now in a panic. "It's nothing!"

"Right now!" The older man snapped.

That did it. After a moment of silence, the door slowly creaked opened. Ritsu stepped out with his head held down, sniffling and pathetically scratching at his arm. Takano instantly took hold of his face, tilting it up so that he could get a look at him.

"Oh….oh Ritsu…" Takano muttered.

Then he chuckled. Yes, his boss and ex-lover actually had the nerve to laugh! That resulted in Ritsu whimpering quietly and jerking his head back down. That's it, he was quitting right now. Quitting and never coming back to this stupid place!

"Calm down and come here." Takano ordered gently. He took hold of the younger man's sleeve and pulled it upward, revealing many little dots. Then he took hold of the front of his shirt and lifted it before Ritsu could stop him. "Yup, it's just what it looks like. You have chicken pox Onodera."

Oh, okay….wait what?!

"C-Chicken pox? That's impossible, I got the vaccine for it!"

Takano shook his head. "The vaccine doesn't always work. You definitely have them, I can tell. I had them when I was younger."

Ritsu was in shock. "But I can't have them. That's a kids illness!"

"Adults can get it too you moron," Takano rolled his eyes. "Come on, I'm taking you home. It's about that time anyway. And you're not coming back until all the spots are gone. It's very contagious, and we don't want anyone else getting sick. I'll look after you until you're better."

"That's...no, I have to work!" The sick man protested, reaching to scratch behind his ear, only to have his hand snatched.

"Stop that, you can't itch." Takano ordered. "Now come on."

Still holding his hand, Takano led Ritsu down the hall. He had him wait by the door while he went in and collected their things, also explaining the situation to the rest of the Emerald department.

While that went on, Ritsu eagerly scratched his tummy and chest while contemplating his situation. This was terrible! He was going to get so behind on his work, and worst of all now everybody would tease him. No, the worst part was that Takano would be looking after him. Well, he could just keep his apartment door locked or something. Honestly, with Takano around he wouldn't be able to get away from anything.

"OI, I SAID NOT TO SCRATCH!"

**So...should I continue?**

**Sorry if it's not good, I'm still new to writing Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi stories. I just like to think that Ritsu becomes more needy and emotional when he's sick, so he might be a tad bit OOC. I think it's cute though. Anyway, please review and let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for all the wonderful reviews! I'm glad people are liking this. I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

Ritsu was in misery. Nothing, absolutely nothing, had gone according to plan. Takano had ended up driving him home. Afterwards he'd planned to just get to his apartment and recover in peace. Apparently life was just against him though, since he ended up falling asleep in the car. When he awoke, he realized that he wasn't even in his own bed. Takano had taken him to his own apartment instead!

Now it was Friday. Obviously Ritsu couldn't go into work, but much to his annoyance Takano had stayed home too. Apparently he'd brought his work home, so he could stay here to take care of him. So far his suckish day had consisted of soup, ceiling staring, and having his temperature taken every hour.

"Onodera!"

Ah, yes. Sadly he was also yelled at whenever he attempted to itch those horrible spots, which by the way, had increased in number. Upon going to the bathroom a little while ago, he'd taken one look at himself in the mirror and screamed. His face was now covered, along with all the rest of his body. Even in very private places…

"But Takano-san, I can't help it!" He whined, fidgeting underneath the sheets. It was basically impossible to relieve the horrible itchy feeling. Even if he was in a different room Takano somehow knew whenever he was attempting to scratch.

"I bought something to help with that," Takano told him. "Hold on a second."

That was right, earlier while he was napping Takano had apparently made a quick trip to the store. Ritsu waited impatiently until his boss came back into the room, holding a big bottle of some sort of lotion.

"What's that?" Ritsu asked curiously.

"Sit up," Was all Takano responded with as he crossed the room to sit on the edge of the bed. Once Ritsu had managed to sit up, he was shocked when the other man began unbuttoning his pajama shirt (Actually he was in a pair of Takano's pajamas, which were too big for him to begin with).

"W-What are you doing?!" Ritsu yelped, attempting to slap away the offending hands.

"Do you want the itching to stop or not?" Takano asked.

"Y-Yes…" Ritsu answered, looking down and submitting to having his shirt taken off. Once that was done, Takano squeezed a generous amount of the lotion into his hands and ran them over his employee's stomach.

The younger man squeaked at first since it was cold, but then he realized that it felt amazing upon his poor dot covered skin. He sighed in relief and scooted closer, silently begging for more. It he wasn't suffering from this chicken pox ailment then he probably would have freaked out at the fact that Takano was rubbing lotion onto his skin. Right now he was suffering though, and if his ex-lover could help make him better than so be it.

Takano moved onto his back, which felt amazing since that was a very itchy spot recently. Ritsu closed his eyes and rested his head on Takano's shoulder while the other man gently rubbed soothing circles of the anti-itch cream onto his back. The feverish editor was beginning to feel tired, struggling to keep conscious. Takano's soft tender backrub wasn't helping that though.

"Takano-san?" He muttered sleepily. "I don't like the chicken pox…"

"I know," His caretaker murmured, now rubbing at his shoulders.

"I want them to go away…" Ritsu blurted out childishly, on the grip of losing the battle to stay awake. Takano squeezed his shoulder gently, kissing the tip of his nose.

"I know."

He must have fallen asleep, because when he awoke it was evening outside. His attention was brought to some lamplight form across the room. Takano was sitting at his desk, papers surrounding him. Obviously he was working. The thought if all the work he would have to make up made him want to throw up.

Actually….he really was feeling nauseous. His head was also ringing, and all his limbs felt achy. Thankfully he didn't feel overwhelmingly itchy, just a little bit. His thoughts went to earlier and he remembered getting lotion put on him. God, how humiliating! Well, actually it had helped a lot. Ugh, his thoughts were all mixed and jumbled.

Suddenly everything became unbearable. He hated feeling sick...the only way to describe how he was feeling was yucky. A childish word, yes, but also very true. He felt that familiar lump forming in his throat and his eyes filled with hot tears. He began sniffling, which drew Takano from his work almost instantly.

"What's wrong? Do you need more lotion? It's probably time for some more ibuprofen too." The older man mused aloud, running his hand through the sick man's bangs. Ritsu only whimpered, clutching pathetically at Takano's sleeve. He had a sudden desire to be held and comforted, as if that would somehow make everything all better.

Takano seemed to sense exactly what he needed, for he laid down on the mattress and pulled the smaller man against him, rubbing circles on his stomach and whispering sweet nothings into his ear. Ritsu responded by cuddling back into Takano and allowing himself to be soothed.

"I love it when you're affectionate," Takano whispered, stroking a thumb over the brunette's cheek. "No, I just love you. Everything about you."

"Takano-san…" Ritsu mumbled, more asleep than awake now. He clumsily brought up his hand to scratch at his neck. Takano caught it in mid air and kissed his hand, bringing it gently back down to his side. The smaller man gave a small whine but eventually let it go and fell back asleep. Instead of going back to doing his work, Takano stayed by his side.

It was around midnight when Ritsu woke back up. This time he was wide awake, mostly due to the fact that he had been sleeping all day. As soon as he opened his eyes he realized two things. He was incredibly thirsty, and there were also two warm arms wrapped around him. He peeked up and realized that his face had been pressed into his boss' chest. He blushed, but his face was already warm from the body heat as well as his fever.

He carefully escaped Takano's arms and unsteadily made his way to the kitchen through the darkness. He ran his fingers over the wall for a moment and finally found the light switch. As soon as the bright kitchen lit up, he had to squeeze his eyes shut as the headache came back. Once his eyes had adjusted mostly to the light, he began searching around for a cup. He found a small glass one and watered over to the sink, scratching his elbow as he did so.

He filled the cup to the brim with cold water and began gulping it down eagerly. He was so hot, but for some reason shivering. It must have been the fever. Ritsu didn't get sick too often, but when he did it always hit the poor man hard. His immune system was also most likely weakened from the way he'd been skipping meals and overworking at times.

Suddenly his throat tickled and he gave a nasty cough. Once he started he couldn't stop. The glass slipped from his grip and shattered onto the floor as he used both hands to grip the counter and steady himself while trying to calm his cough. Oh great, how could he be so clumsy? He had probably awoken Takano, and he would see the mess. It was a nice glass too...

The coughing increased as he stumbled over to the paper towels to clean up the mess. Unfortunately his left foot crunched down on the broken glass. There was a sharp pain in his foot and he cried out, biting his lip as tears protruded from his bright green eyes as he sunk to his knees. All of a sudden someone grabbed him under the armpits and lifted him away from the dangerous glass.

"T-Takano-san?" He asked in surprise, but then realized what had happened. "I-I'm sorry about breaking that glass. I was just thirsty, but then while I was drinking I had to cough and I accidentally-"

"Shh," Takano shushed him, gently kissing his lips. Ritsu quickly pulled back.

"Stop it, you'll get sick!"

"I've already had it, remember?" The older man reminded him. "Now I'm immune. Now don't move, I need to take care of that," He said, gesturing to Ritsu's foot. There were several gashes in it, likely he had glass still stuck in the wounds too. Blood was trickling out from the cuts, and suddenly Ritsu remembered that he didn't like blood so much, and there was a lot of it...he whimpered and covered his face with his hands.

Takano came back with tweezers and gauze. He carefully situated the man he loved upon the couch, and then carefully began to take the glass out. Neither spoke a word, until finally all the glass was out and Ritsu's foot was wrapped up safely in bandages. "Thank you Takano-san..." The sickly brunette said, absentmindedly scratching his cheek.

"Ritsu," Takano admonished softly. He then picked him up, carrying him back into the bedroom. Once he tucked the younger man safely back into the covers, he gave a small yawn. "I need to clean the mess in the kitchen. After that we'll do something about that scratching."

Many feelings went through Ritsu's mind. First of all he felt very guilty. He'd woken Takano from his peaceful slumber because of his carelessness. His boss was going out of his way to take care of him, and this was how he repaid him...at the same time he also felt eager. Would Takano give him some more of that lotion? It didn't make the scratchiness completely go away, but it did help a great deal. He didn't even understand why he couldn't itch. Takano had given him some lecture about the sores getting infected and also scarring, but at this point he didn't care that much.

A few minutes later Takano came back. First he brought a fresh cup of water, along with some ibuprofen. He gave Ritsu the pill and then held the glass to his lips, holding it for him while he drank. Next he pulled out a thermometer form his pocket. At this point Ritsu already knew what to do, and opened his mouth obediently and kept it under his tongue the whole time. Finally it beeped and Takano looked at it.

"Well, it's not as bad as before but you still have a temperature," He notified him. "Now come on, I have something else to help you."

Ritsu really didn't have a chance to protest as he was picked up and carried from his room...and into the bathroom?

"An oatmeal bath should help make the itching go down," Takano explained as he sat Ritsu down on the toilet. He then helped Ritsu get his clothes off. Ritsu really should have protested, but he was willing to go to great lengths to sooth his poor itchy body. As soon as he got into the bath he gave a high sigh of relief. It felt amazing! His eyes widened when Takano sat on the rim of the tub.

"Takano-san, you don't have to stay...it's so late, and I disturbed your sleep.."

"Do you really think I would leave you alone after what just happened in the kitchen?" His boss asked, arching an eyebrow. "Idiot..."

Ritsu blushed and looked down at the water, which was thankfully cloudy form the oatmeal so that he wasn't fully exposed. He squeaked when Takano began cupping the water and running it over his bare stomach and shoulders. The gentleness of his boss's fingertips caused him to let out a shuddering breath. He closed his eyes as his heart began to beat faster. No...this shouldn't be happening. He still hadn't admitted his love yet...and only lovers helped each other bathe, unless you were a child and it was a parent.

When he tried to pull away, Takano didn't allow him too. "Ritsu..." He whispered, rubbing soothing circles on the other's bare shoulder blades. "Let me help you...alright?"

Ritsu grew still for a moment, but then slowly nodded. Takano pressed his lips to the brunette's forehead and continued helping him wash the oatmeal water over his red spots. At that moment, everything was calm and content.

**Leave a review and let me know what you think please!**

**The next chapter will be here soon!**


	3. Chapter 3

"I want to go outside!"

"No."

"Why?!"

"You have a fever. We've already been over this." Takano repeated, as he had been doing numerous. Indeed, they had already been over this several times. Ritsu wanted to get up and go out somewhere, claiming that he was too stir crazy.

It wasn't going to happen though. First of all, he was flushed with a fever and shaking from the chills. Secondly, he was at the very contagious stage of chicken pox. Going out would put others at risk. No matter how many times Takano tried to explain it to him, Ritsu just wouldn't have it. Apparently he had gone from meek and cuddly to grouchy and irritable.

"_Takano_!" He growled, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"_Ritsu_," Takano gave his best scary glare, staring right into Ritsu's green orbs, which were now widened. Eventually the smaller man sighed, leaning back against the pillows.

"I j-just wanted to go outside for a bit…" He sniffled. Oh great, now he was bipolar as well. Takano just watched as the man he loved spilled his feelings. "Takano-san, I hate everything! It's too hot but without the blankets its too cold. My throat hurts and my head keeps throbbing. The worst part is that I'm itchy and the cream hardly does anything!"

Ritsu's rambling was cut off by a big yawn. Takano had to laugh at that. "I think it's time you went back to sleep. I'll join you." He said, climbing into bed before the brown haired man and pulling the blankets over them both. He drew Ritsu into his arms and kissed his neck.

"Just wait till you're better...we can make love as much as we need to to make up for this missed time."

"Takano-san!"

Throughout the rest of the day, Ritsu eagerly awaited having his temperature taken, praying that his fever would be gone. Unfortunately it didn't change, and if anything he was still feeling pretty bad. If perhaps he wasn't covered in a horrible itchy rash, he would have felt guilty for being so grumpy to his boss. But he was covered in a horrible itchy rash, and so now he was taking his frustrations out on Takano.

Somehow, Takano was just putting up with it. For someone who often didn't have much patience, he was sure different while Ritsu was sick. Finally, after the thirteenth time of threatening to escape out of the apartment window, Takano allowed Ritsu to edit one small little storyboard, which he had first looked over himself to make sure it wasn't too difficult.

'_I wish Takano wouldn't be so mother menning...'_ The sickly brunette thought sadly, gazing out the window at the sun shining and birds chirping. '_But why does my heart always beat so fast whenever he does things like rub cream on my spots, or feel my forehead for a fever?'_

"That's enough working for now. You look dazed, so go to sleep." Takano's voice brought him from his deep thinking. Instead of arguing, he complied and set the storyboard down, sinking back into the mattress.

Takano raised an eyebrow. "What, you're not going to come up with some excuse on why you should be allowed to stay up longer? Wow, I'm shocked."

"W-Well…" Ritsu stuttered. "I just figured that I should show my gratitude...since you've gone out of your way to care for me and all!"

His eyes were shut tight and he could feel his face heated with blush. Why had he just said that? He was so stupid! He didn't have any more time to freak out though, because suddenly his chin was tilted up and warm lips pressed against his own. He gasped a little, but kept his mouth open and allowed the other man to deepen the kiss.

When Takano finally pulled back, he smiled ruefully. "You're really cute, you know that?"

"H-Huh?!" Ritsu was now blushing madly.

Takano didn't care to elaborate as he pulled the smaller man into his arms and laid them both down, despite it not even being noon yet.

_One Week Later:_

"Well? Can I go into work tomorrow Takano-san?!" Ritsu asked excitedly, practically bouncing in place on the couch that he was sitting on.

"Well….your spots _have _been gone for over 42 hours," Takano mused to himself. "Are you sure you don't have a headache?"

"Yes!" Ritsu answered impatiently.

"And are you sure your throat hasn't been hurting?"

"Yes, I'm sure!"

"Well then…" Takano said slowly. "I suppose you can work again tomorrow."

"YES!" Ritsu shouted, standing and jumping in the air out of excitement. Then, without thinking clearly, he wrapped his arms around his boss and kissed him deeply. When he finally realized what he had just done, it was too late. Takano held him tightly and his hands were getting lower and low..oh!

The rest of Ritsu's evening became quite busy.

…

'_Finally, back to work!'_ Ritsu thought to himself happily as he walked down the halls of Marukawa Publishing. It had taken quite a while to reach the Emerald Division, because everyone was asking how he was, and if he felt better.

As soon as he entered his workspace, he immediately knew something was off. His other co-workers were all snickering at him!

"Ricchan, welcome back!" Kisa greeted him by muffled laughter. "How was the chicken pox?"

"It was...wait a second," Ritsu felt his heart stop. "H-How do you know that it was chicken pox that made me sick?"

"Takano-san told us of course!" Mino stepped in. "Or more like showed us..."

Kisa, who had been sitting at his desk, opened his laptop and clicked onto his email. "Look at what he sent us Ricchan!"

There, on the screen, was a picture of him shirtless. He was covered in spots and shivering, hair damp and wet with clumps of oatmeal in it. The photo was obviously taken after he'd had the oatmeal bath for the first time. There were also two other photos, one of him sleeping and another one of him sitting grumpily with a thermometer in his mouth.

….How had he not noticed Takano taking pictures of him?!

He growled lowly in the back of his throat, trudging over to where his boss sat. Takano had been looking over some papers, but the smirk on his face was evidence that he had been listening.

"Takano-san….why the hell did you take pictures of me and send them to everyone? Don't you know how embarrassing this is? I was covered with those weird spots, and probably looked like an idiot, and-"

"It's normal for loved ones to take pictures of each other. Now get to work, you have a lot to make up."

A pile of papers was shoved into his arms. Ritsu was speechless, and wandered back to his seat in a daze. '_Loved ones?'_

He blinked.

'_No, this isn't love...it isn't love. This isn't love!'_

...Oh who was he kidding? This wa_s _love!

fin

**Well, I hope everyone liked this! I'll most likely do some more fics like this soon if you want me too. (Fics with needy/hurt/sick/injured Ritsu)**

**Reviews make me happy! :D**


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